The 125th U.S. Open

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After the first round of the 125th U.S. Open Golf championship last week, the leader was a 34-year old Los Angeles native, J.J. Spaun, who had only one PGA Tour win and had lost his Tour status after dropping outside the top 500 in the world back in 2021.

Nothing unusual. In any tournament, even the majors, there is an early leader who plays well enough to jump ahead of everyone, before the cream rises to the top.

But it became apparent early on, that the fabled Oakmont Country Club just outside Pittsburgh, hosting the Open for a record 10th time, was going to be a monster to handle, even for the stars on the Tour.

Who wouldn’t have picked Scottie Scheffler to win it all? A knee-jerk selection if there ever was one and rightly so, having won three of his last four tournaments including the PGA Championship. He’s been the most dominant golfer, ranked #1 in the world for over 100 weeks.

However it wasn’t Scottie’s week nor Masters champ Rory McIlroy’s either, or defending titleholder Bryson DeChambeau, or any of the so-called prominent names in the sport.

Oakmont ate them up. Between the narrow fairways, the deep and punishing bunkers, the undulating greens where a seemingly good shot would run off in every direction and then the mostly thick, unforgiving rough that made the  seasoned pros look like weekend duffers at times, the course made golf unlike anything we’ve seen.

In the first round, not one of the top 10 players in the world broke par. They were 32 shots over.

But someone had to end the day in front, and that was J.J. Spaun at 4-under, the only player in the field who was bogey free. There was a hero in the second round of the Championship who edged into the lead. Sam Burns, a 28-year old five time Tour winner from LSU shot an impressive 65, one of the best ever at Oakmont, and at 3-under par had a one-shot advantage over Spaun and two shots over Norwegian Viktor Hovland. They were the only players under par at the halfway mark.

The frustration, even bordering on anger for many of the top players was clear for everyone to see. Scheffler had a meltdown when he returned to the practice tee after his round. He was visibly upset, swatting golf balls on the ground, practically shouting at his swing coach Randy Brown who was trying his best to calm the golfer down.

Scheffler, who hung in deep into the final round, only a few shots behind, but trailing a bunch of players, can blame his putting for his downfall. He missed a shocking amount of short putts for birdies. In retrospect, had he made half of them, he might have just won the thing.

Going into the final round, the final two groups appeared to separate themselves from the rest. The so-called Final Four: Burns the leader at 4-under, one shot over 44-year old Adam Scott, the popular Australian who won the Masters 12 years ago, tied for second with Spaun, wouldn’t go away, and Hovland three off the lead.

Would it be Burns, who like Hovland had never won a major, Scott, the “old man” in the group, or Spaun? Or maybe someone else who would come on strong.

The final round was a dizzying display of shots that found the rough, the bunker, or rolled off the green. It was a struggle for everyone and it was clear that it was a matter of survival.

Spaun began in nightmarish fashion, scoring bogeys on five of the first six holes and at the turn was four shots down. Forget him?  Not so fast, sailor.

No one could tame Oakmont enough to take any kind of control.

Meanwhile, a 28-year old Scot named, Robert MacIntyre, who honestly no one noticed throughout the four days, was one of those slightly over par hanging around in the top ten.

MacIntyre became the leader in the clubhouse at 1-over, with plenty of time for those above to falter and hand him the title. What a scenario that would be. An invisible golfer becomes US Open champ.

Now is the time to bring in the story of the weather conditions which played a role in the ultimate outcome. Over the final two days, thunderstorms and heavy rain plagued this western Pennsylvania area. Near the end of the front nine for the leaders, there was an hour and a half delay due to the thunderstorms. Even when they passed, the rain, often severe, with raindrops almost the size of golf balls (not hail, mind you), played havoc with the contest at hand.

That, plus the grueling course lay-out, caused a few players to lose their cool.

One was Sam Burns, the one who was doing his best to keep the other contenders at bay.

At one point Burns wanted a ruling concerning water on the fairway. He wanted to move his ball, but it since there was no standing water involved, he had to play the ball where it was.

He swiped the area with his club in disgust. This wasn’t going to help him and Burns finished 8-over par.

The rain delay, however, did wonders for J.J. Spaun. It revived his faltering start to the day and there he was in position to take the crown.

Tied with MacIntryle, already finished and watching from the scoring table inside, Spaun, with two holes remaining, would either play himself into or out of the title, or settle for a playoff the next day.

Outsiders always assume that professional athletes they see are firmly confident in their ability to succeed. But that isn’t always the case. And not for J.J. Spaun who until recently didn’t believe he was good enough to be a winner.

Imagine his thoughts when he shot a 40 on the front nine of the final round.

But on the 17th hole of the final day with a major championship at stake on a brutal golf course amid severe rain and thunderstorms, Spaun unleashed a powerful and accurate drive to reach the green on the short par four and birdied it to grab the lead by a stroke.

Then, on the last, all he needed was par to become champion. There he was, 64-feet away and a two-putt for the title. But  J.J. Spaun sank the longest putt by anyone all week. A birdie, to cap a dramatic, unpredictable comeback by an unlikely competitor under so many adverse circumstances.

Maybe all that transpired is no surprise when you consider that his mother, Dollie, born in the Phillipines, and an avid golfer, once received permission to continue to play while carrying her son until she was eight months pregnant.

Dollie was persistent to say the least, and so was J.J., who never changed expression for the four days of the 2025 U.S. Open Golf Championship, but inside had the ability to survive, and to finally know he is, indeed, good enough.

Whenever the name J.J. Spaun comes up in future discussions about the sport of golf, everyone will know why. No explanation necessary.